I am pro freedom and pro responsibility.
I don't buy the argument that anyone is forcing a woman to have a child she does not want, expect in case of non-consensual sex. Back in the dark ages of the 1950's women were not taught sexulaity well, and there were a lot of wives tales on how things worked. Even into the 1970s some myths persisted, like "you can get pregnant sitting on a public toilet." Kid you not, I knew someone that thought that in the early 1980's as a preteen. I think we have come a long way since then and people understand Tab D in Slot P can result in a baby. I also understand that people have a "it can't happen to me" mind set, especially when they are younger. If you don't want to get pregnant there are lots of fun other activities that won't result in the embryo -> fetus -> baby -> parenthood chain.
But, having a built in mulligen may not be a bad thing either and being able to get a safe abortion does help fulfil that. I don't like the act, I really don't. I do think that taking a human life, especially one that has wronged no one, and cannot defend or speak for itself should not be done lightly. I do find some of the abortion activists that claim how proud they are they had an abortion abhorrent. At the time of Roe one argument is that it was a difficult choice, a deadly serious difficult choice women had to make, and I agree that allowing that choice is important. Now we have some that say they want to get pregnant just to have an abortion. I do get that some of it is just push back and rhetoric to be evocative, but I think the more people talk like that the more people think it is ok.
I've known my fair share of women, and I was always careful to do my part to make sure the issue wasn't an issue. People know what causes these things, do your best to not get there if you can't afford or don't want a baby.
This is extremely well said ::tips hat::
I just want to highlight/expand on a couple of things you said.
-Teaching/information sharing
A little over a year ago, my wife and I went through a miscarriage. I bring this up because of you mentioning myths and mindsets surrounding pregnancy. It was a difficult time, but what blew me away was the number of people that went through the same thing and I never knew. This included coworkers that I saw every day, and even a close friend whom we had shared really personal stuff. It's crazy how alone we felt despite not being alone at all.
I also bring this up because, when this happened to us, it was somewhat late in the pregnancy and my wife had to have a procedure that would be characterized as an abortion (even though baby was already gone). Letting that resolve itself naturally would have introduced a whole lot of unnecessary risk to my wife for absolutely no reason. I have ZERO confidence that the clowns that run our country/state would be able to legislate in such a way that would recognize this type of situation.
-Life of the fetus and its inability to speak for itself
I also struggle to justify ending life without it being able to speak for or defend itself. I DO think abortion should be an option, but I'd like to see more done to encourage not using this option. Foster system is a joke, and it seems like it's way too easy for men to avoid accountability. I have a hard time with pro-lifers that aren't also pounding the table for legislation to support proper care for children after birth. I think it's telling when someone can be so passionate about life up until birth, and then so indifferent after.
